St. Paul daily globe., 1887-04-28
Place of Observation
BEAuTIFYING THE CITY.

A person who visits New York city is
Invariably impressed with the appearance
of dreary barrenneSS which characteriZeS
thegreat metropolis. New York is a great city
of great buildings with great streets contin-
ualIy thronged with great crowds, and yet
with all its greatness and life and hustle
there is something about the city which con-
yeys to the visitor the same impression one
receives when looking out upon great
desert. This is especially true in the sum
mer time when the broling rays of an Au-
gust SUN pouring down upon the unprO-
tected streets make the metropolis little less
than red hot furnace. 1t doesn't take the
visitor long to detect that this sense of
dreariness and appearance of barrenness all
results from the absence of trees. There
can be nothing more unattraetiye in city
than street which is barren of yerdure
and shade. And what is still worse, there
can be nothing more baneful to the health
of city. Paris owes its fame for beauty
to its boulevard system. Washington,
which a few years ago was as ugly and un-
slightly a nati0na! capitol as was to be found
on the face of the globeis to-day one of
from ugliness to beauty has been brought
about by tree planting. Its avenues miles
in length with double rows of trees down
their centerS, its green parks and sodded
spaces in front of the houses give the city
an extremely attractive appearance, exceed
ihg in beauty the faI Ored Partisan boule.
wards. Washington'S success in treet-plant-
ing has encouraged other American cities to
adopt the same plan with equally beneficial
leSults wherever it has been tried AL
though Chicago has not done as much in
that direction as it ought to have done, still
all of Us cali see the marvellous improve
ment that has been made within the last
Years i'll the prairie city. The Chicago of
Today is ten times prettier city than Chi
cag0 was ten years ago, and nearly all of
This increased beauty is owing to the i'm
proyement of its park system and of plant
ing shade trees along the streets. The
trees have not only had beautifying effect
but they have proved sanltariIy beneficial in
absorbing the moisture in the soil and many
of the noNlous yapors in the atmosphere.
So generally recognized is the benefit of
tree planting in this country that '.Arbor
Day. has become thing of national i'm
portance and a day which is becoming
mOre universally observed with each re-
curing year.
Fortunately for St. Paul its early settlers
we're imbued with a sentimental fondness
for forests, and thus the city is blessed in
an abundance Of shade aud verdure per-
haps not equaled by any other city of the
country, At the same time there are la
mentable Instances of where the senti-
ment OF our pioneers has been sacrificed to
the grosser materiaiism of modern progress
This is particularly true in the business
districSt of the city. There is no feature of
st. Paul'S picturesque beauty more attract
ave to the stranger visiting our city than
the cozy appearance of the residence dis
tricts where the lovely dwellings nestle
down in groves OF oak and maple with the
green sward all around them. The attract
iyeness of our shaded streets in the resi-
aepce portions OF the city bring into promi-
nence the barrenneSS Of the business districts
where the trees have been dug up to make
room for the massive blocks of stone and
brick which have arisen in response to the
rapidly growing commercial demands of the
city. 1t is pity that there should not
have been trihe more sentiment inter-
mingled with the materiallsm of this age
aud that while cities have been built there
shonld lot have been less of sordidness dis
played and more of disposition to respect
beauty. But so far as st. Paul isconeerned,
what mistakes have been made in this di-
rection are not wholly beyond remedy.
The recent creation of park commission
is the best evidence Of a desire on the part
OF our pt pulaiien TO have past mistake
cured so far as cure is practicable The
establishment of parks in the business DIS
dsiets is inoye ia this direction But still
puore can be dol4e. There should be tree
piitnlea Oh every slieet. on every spot
wi,erp a tree wiii grGw. There should
al least b" one Tree at the
cyiser VI each street. H'aege the
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